Grammar L1 Semester 01 2023-2024 Ms.

Douaibia

The Nouns

1- Review:
 A noun is a word that names something, such as a person, place, thing, or idea.
 A noun can play the following roles in a sentence (choose the correct answer)

1. A subject as in: The children are running.

2. The direct object as in: The fire destroyed the warehouse
3. The indirect object as in: Sarah gave John an apple.
4. The subject complement as in: She is my mother.
5. The object complement as in: They elected Sophie their leader.
6. Adverbial complement as in: the storm lasted all night.

 Fill in the table below

Word class Meaning Morphology

Sematics Word-form
Noun A noun is a word Grammatical morphemes: There are two grammatical morphemes
that names that can be used to mark nouns in English
something, such as a The ‘s’ of the plural as in: books
person, place, thing, The possessive ‘s’: the girls’ room, Micheal’s office
or idea. Derivational morphemes: there are many morphemes that can be
used to form nouns. Some of them are listed in the table below
Some common noun derivational morphemes include the following:

Suffix Example
-acy privacy
-al refusal
-ance, -ence maintenance, eminence
-dom freedom, kingdom
-er, -or trainer, protector
-ism communism
-ist chemist
-ity, -ty veracity
-ment argument
-sion, -tion concession, transition
-ship friendship, citizenship, leadership, membership
-ness happiness, kindness, forgiveness, goodness
-ant/-ent student, president, resident, assistant, defendant, accountant, deodorant
-ee addressee, interviewee, referee, trainee, employee, refugee, trustee,

2- Types of nouns

 Proper nouns are names of specific people, places, and things. They can be either singular ( e.g. Jhon,
Paris) or plural ( the parkers, the Great Lakes), and they are usually capitalized.
 Common nouns refer to general names for people, places, and things.
Grammar L1 Semester 01 2023-2024 Ms. Douaibia

 Abstract nouns means that they refer to things that you cannot perceive with your senses, things you
cannot see, smell, feel, taste, or touch. Some examples are: love, honesty, culture, work.
 Concrete nouns can be perceived by our senses - they are things that we can see, hear, smell, taste, or
touch as: glass: jewellery, newspaper, and pen.
 A collective noun denotes a group of people, thing or animals. Collective nouns are also called group
nouns. Collective nouns are countable nouns (one family, two families). A collective noun can be used
with both singular and plural verbs ( this family is active, the family are active members)
 Compound nouns consist of more than one word. Compound nouns can be formed in different ways.
The most common way is to put two nouns together (noun + noun (as shopkeeper and website); other
common types are adjective + noun (as greenhouse and small talk) and verb + noun (as breakwater
and runway).
 Countable nouns: refer to things which, in English, are treated as separate items which can be counted,
eg. A city, several big cities.
 Uncountable nouns refer to things that are seen as a whole or mass. They are called uncountable
nouns, because they cannot be separated or counted.

Note: Writing compound nouns

Many compound nouns are written as one word, but some are written with hyphens or spaces. In modern
English, hyphens are less common than they were in the past. A good learner’s dictionary will tell you how
each compound is usually written.
Examples of one word
bathroom sheepdog windscreen
Examples of hyphens
check-in fire-fighter son-in-law
Examples of spaces
bottle opener New Year’s Day Prime Minister
Plurals of compound nouns
We form the plural of most compounds by adding a plural ending to the last part of the compound:
We saw some large greenhouses with vegetables growing in them.
They’re building two new car parks in town.
Source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/nouns-compound-nouns

Note: Some examples of uncountable nouns

Ideas and experiences: advice, information, progress, news, luck, fun, work
Materials and substances: water, rice, cement, gold, milk
Weather words: weather, thunder, lightning, rain, snow
Names for groups or collections of things: furniture, equipment, rubbish, luggage
Other common uncountable nouns include: accommodation, baggage, homework, knowledge, money,
permission, research, traffic, travel.
These nouns are not used with a/an or numbers and are not used in the plural.

Note: Countable and uncountable with a difference in meaning

Some nouns can be countable and uncountable, often with a difference in meaning.
Often, Uncountable nouns are general and countable nouns are specific.
Uncountable noun Countable noun
- I have experience in management. - I had a bad experience today.
Grammar L1 Semester 01 2023-2024 Ms. Douaibia

- The napkins are made from linen cloth.( fabric) - He wiped the table with a clean cloth.
- She has long dark hair. - There is a hair in my soup.
- Do you drink coffee? - I would like two coffees please ( 2 cups of
coffee).
- I will buy some cheese. - The shop has a large selection of cheeses (
kinds of cheese)

3- The plural of words: What is the plural of the words in the first column of the table? What rules can
you deduce? Check page 100 in the book entitled: Understanding English Grammar

4- Nouns that have a plural form ( end in ‘s’)

 Some nouns end in‘s’ are uncountable nouns. They are not used with a/an or numbers and are not
used in the plural. They are used with a singular verb
Eg: Dominoes is a game that can be played with two or more players.
 Nouns like this are news;
 some words for subjects of study: mathematics, statistics, physics, politics, economics;
 some sports: athletics, gymnastics, bowls; s
 some games: billiards, darts, dominoes, draughts; and
 some illnesses: measles, mumps, shingles.

 Some nouns that end in ‘s’ refer to things that are made of two identical parts. They are called pair
nouns. They have no singular forms with the same meaning.
 Because they are made of two parts, they have a plural meaning and they are used
with a plural verb.
Eg: Your red pyjamas are in the wardrobe.
 They are uncountable. They are not used with a/an or numbers.
*I want a sunglass to wear them. Incorrect
*I want two sunglasses to wear them. Incorrect
I want the black sunglasses please. Correct
 Examples of pair nouns are: binoculars, glasses, jeans, pants, pyjamas, scissors, shorts, tights,
trousers.

 Some nouns that end in‘s’ are always plural. They have no singular forms with the same meaning.
 They have a plural meaning and they are used with a plural verb.
*Have you bought the grocery? Incorrect
Have you bought the groceries? Correct
*Thank for your help. Incorrect
Thanks for your help. Correct
 They are uncountable. They are not used with a/an or numbers.
*I want one clothes, please. Incorrect
*I want ten clothes, please. Incorrect
*I want a clothes, please. Incorrect
*I want some clothes, please. Correct
Grammar L1 Semester 01 2023-2024 Ms. Douaibia

 Examples of words that are always plural are: belongings, clothes, congratulations, earnings, goods,
odds (= probability), outskirts, particulars (= details), premises (= building), remains, riches,
surroundings, thanks, troops (= soldiers), tropics.

Note:
Uncountable nouns can be used with singular and plural verbs depending on the meaning.

Note: Singular or plural?

Some nouns cans be used in the singular/plural forms and they have a particular meaning.
They can be used in the plural form only with a different meaning
Singular/plural
- She hurt her arm. - They carried arms ( weapons)
- Cheese has a high fat content. - The contents of the letter are a secret.
- You can go out on one condition. - The conditions inside the prison were
terrible.
- Someone throw a stone at our window. - She rested her cheek against the cool
stone wall.

5- Nouns as modifiers:
When nouns function as adjectives, they describe and specify the noun after them. As adjectives are
not inflected for the plural, nouns as modifiers often occur in the singular form even when they refer to
more than one thing as in:
Vegetable soup.
Fruit basket.
Shoe store
 Some nouns that are in the plural form or have r have a different meaning in singular/plural or
countable/uncountable: are used in the plural form when they are used as modifiers like:
a clothes shop, a customs officer, the arms trade, a darts match, a glasses case, a glasses case,
a communications network, a savings account.
 Some nouns, such as 'pants,' 'sleeves,' 'trousers,' and others, are typically used in their plural form.
However, when used as a modifier for another noun, they are used in singular form. like:
I use a trouser press instead of an iron.
Her shoe size is 36.

Noun modifiers
We often use two nouns together to show that one thing is a part of something else:

the village church

the car door
the kitchen window
the chair leg
my coat pocket
London residents
In these examples, the first noun is called a noun modifier.

 We can use noun modifiers to show what something is made of:

a gold watch
a leather purse
Grammar L1 Semester 01 2023-2024 Ms. Douaibia

a metal box
 We often use noun modifiers with nouns ending in –er:

an office worker
a jewellery maker
a potato peeler
 We use measurements, age or value as noun modifiers:

a thirty-kilogram suitcase(note that we do not say thirty-kilogramS. We say Kilogram in the singular
form)
a two-minute rest
a five-thousand-euro platinum watch
a fifty-kilometre journey
 We often use nouns ending in -ing as noun modifiers:

a shopping list
a swimming lesson
a walking holiday
a washing machine
 We often put two nouns together and readers/listeners have to work out what they mean:

an ice bucket
(= a bucket to keep ice in)

an ice cube
(= a cube made of ice)

an ice breaker
(= a ship which breaks ice)

the ice age

(= the time when much of the Earth was covered in ice)
 Sometimes we find more than two nouns together:

London office workers

grammar practice exercises
 Noun modifiers come after adjectives:

the old newspaper seller

a tiring fifty-kilometre journey
source: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/noun-modifiers

Possessive nouns :
A possessive noun is a noun that shows ownership. The noun is inflected with an (‘s) or just an (‘).
For example,
In the phrase the student’s book, the word student’s is a possessive noun, that denotes that the book
belong to the student. The possessive noun student’s can be replaced with the possessive adjective
his.

Note: the student’s nook and the student book

 The student’s book means that the student owns the book. The student’s is a possessive noun.
 The student book shows the type of the book. It is a student book, not a teacher book or a
children book. The student is a noun used as a modifier.
Grammar L1 Semester 01 2023-2024 Ms. Douaibia

Form

Word Example
Singular noun+ ’s Maria’s mother, The king’s castle.
Singular nouns ending in s+ ’s or ‘ (just apostrophe) Charles’s mother, The boss’ office
Plural nouns+’ (just apostrophe) Students’ club,
Irregular plural+’s The children’s space

Examples:
The possessive form of nouns can be used with people or groups of people (e.g. companies), other
living things, places, and times.

1. The cat’s tail is fluffy.

2. My sister’s car is blue.
3. The teacher’s desk is cluttered.
4. The children’s toys are all over the floor.
5. John’s parents are coming to visit.
6. The dog’s bone is buried in the backyard.
7. The company’s profits have increased this year.
8. Our team’s strategy was successful.
9. The teacher’s lesson plan was well-organized.

Constructions of an of-phrase can be used to express possession like

1. The tail of the cat is fluffy.

2. The car of my sister is blue.
3. The profits of the company have increased this year.
4. The lesson plan of the teacher was well-organized.

The choice between an inflected form noun(‘s) and an of- construction is influenced by several factors as
shown in the table below:

Structure Preferred form Examples

Noun phrases referring to
humans and to a lesser extent
Noun phrases referring to
monthes and geographical
places
Noun phrases referring to
inanimate entities
Rekatively long noun phrases
Tend to appear in the in the
inflected form noun(‘s)
Will often take either form
Usually appear in the of-
construction
Are more likely to appear in the
of- construction
 Felicias’s shiny black hair
rather than The shiny black hair of
Felicias
 the tiger’s paw
rather than The paw of the tiger.
December’s storms OR the storms of
December.
Tebessa’s stores OR the sores of Tebessa.
The legs of the table
rather than
The table’s legs
She is the sister of someone I used to go to
school with
rather than
She is someone I used to go to school with's
sister.
Grammar L1 Semester 01 2023-2024 Ms. Douaibia